Chapters (56)
- Cover
- Dedication
- 1.1 [close to the bone]
- 1.2 [and introducing...]
- 1.3 [half-split]
- 1.4 [the Semple challenge]
- 1.5 [Brickpower]
- 2.1 [shaker up]
- 2.2 [heavyweight]
- 2.3 [♀]
- 2.4 [hired hand]
- 3.1 [wheels and deals]
- 3.2 [don’t cry over spilled ...]
- 3.3 [three’s a crowd]
- 3.4 [“If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” or “Night of the Long Knives,” take your pick]
- 4.1 [all the comforts of home]
- 4.2 [white knight]
- 4.3 [pay dirt]
- 4.4 [book learning]
- 5.1 [AQ]
- 5.2 [kihon, kata, kumite]
- 5.3 [pride and prejudice]
- 5.4 [hurt and humiliation]
- 5.5 [“King of the Road”]
- 6.1 [“Father and Son”]
- 6.2 [nothing succeeds like success]
- 6.3 [naked]
- 6.4 [nakeder (I know, there’s no such word)]
- 7.1 [42 km/hr]
- 7.2 [first aid]
- 7.3 [interest is mounting daily]
- 8.1 [kiai]
- 8.2 [kumite (sparring)]
- 8.3 [white knight II]
- 8.4 [Hope is the thing with feathers—that perches in the soul ... Emily Dickinson. American poet, 1830–86. I’m showing off.]
- 9.1 [white knight III]
- 9.2 [“Dead Man Walking”]
- 9.3 [tattletale]
- 9.4 [scat]
- 9.5 [painstaking]
- 10.1 [buzzed]
- 10.2 [amethyst: spiritual calm and healing]
- 10.3 [self-defense]
- 10.4 [self-disclosure]
- 11.1 [self-respect]
- 11.2 [guerrilla warfare]
- 11.3 [Sensei (teacher)]
- 11.4 [“The Razor’s Edge”]
- 12.1 [man to man]
- 12.2 [Tully]
- 12.3 [Hockey Night in Hilchey Bay]
- 12.4 [“If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”]
- 12.5 [rerun]
- 12.6 [“the end is the beginning ...” Japanese koan composed by Brickson MacAvoy]
- [author’s note]
- [acknowledgements]
I lever myself to my feet and wait until the rainbows stop swooping and diving. “He’s gotta stop beating up on me in front of Cassie.”
Her mouth tightens. “Things are really rough at work right now.”
“It terrifies her! You have to talk to him.”
“I can try. But there are no guarantees with Floyd.”
At least she’s listening; Floyd losing his cool shook her up. Knowing I don’t mean it, I say, “I’ll go to the cops if he lays a finger on me when Cassie’s in the same room.”
“You don’t want to do that, either. We’ll watch over her.”
“We? You planning on staying home with her? Or taking her with you when you go out?”
“I can’t do that! My healing work, it’s confidential.” She glances at herself in the mirror. “I have to center myself. Off you go.”
Off I go. Obedience should be my middle name, not Thaddeus. Brickson was Opal’s maiden name, Thaddeus was Floyd’s father. They couldn’t even come up with a name that belonged only to me.
Downstairs, I lower myself into the nearest chair in the kitchen, head on the table, and wish it was tomorrow. A week from tomorrow.
More time passes. I heat up a can of Alphagettis for Cassie. Smell nearly makes me heave.
Opal comes downstairs. “I have appointments in town, then Floyd and I are having supper together,” she says. “I’ll try and talk to him. Afterward, he has a meeting and I’m doing palm readings in Hilchey Point.”
I’d sigh with relief except it’d hurt too much.
Sleep some more. Watch Sesame Street. Oscar grumping in his garbage can.
Oh no. It’s recycling day. My job to put it out by the road.
Surely today Floyd would have done it for me.
Send Cassie to check. The green bin’s sitting beside the garage.
The truck’s due in fifteen minutes. Docker’s always on time.
The bin is way too big for Cassie.
If it’s not emptied ... let’s not go there.
4.2 [white knight]
THIRTEEN MINUTES later, we reach the end of the driveway, me wheeling the bin, Cassie and Rover tagging along for company. Docker’s just pulling up in his big green and white truck. He’s alone today; the other guy must be sick. I push the bin the last couple of feet, turn my back, and try not to stagger. Stepby-step, I shuffle toward the house.
The brakes squeal, the cab door slams. Docker catches up with me easy, since running’s not on my agenda. “What happened?”
“Fell off the ATV,” I say. “Onto some rocks—smashed up my face.”
“He did it,” Cassie says.